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Elias
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“This book is emotionally cruel in a controlled way.”
Elias is a slow-burn psychological horror about control, identity erasure, and survival, where fear comes not from violence, but from silence, obedience, and the gradual loss of self.
Reader Praise
“Deeply unsettling, beautifully written, and emotionally intelligent.”
“It reads like literary horror wearing a psychological thriller’s skin.”
“The atmosphere is suffocating. The house feels disturbingly alive.”
“I didn’t feel entertained. I felt affected.”
Grief built the monster. Love keeps it alive.
He said it was an accident. A storm, a slip, a single mistake that stole his daughter’s life.
But grief curdled into something else. Something darker.
Now, in the shadows of his isolated home, women are taken. Each one is measured, tested, remade. He tells himself it’s love. He tells himself it’s redemption.
He couldn’t save her. So he rewrote her.
Eliza wakes in his world of rules and rituals, where every choice is a test she doesn’t understand and failure is not forgiven. The walls whisper with the ghosts of the women before her and the terrible secret of what he’s trying to rebuild.
Some fathers can’t let go.
Some daughters don’t get to leave.
This book is a chilling psychological thriller about grief, obsession, and the terrifying lengths a parent will go to recreate what death has taken.
“This book is emotionally cruel in a controlled way.”
Elias is a slow-burn psychological horror about control, identity erasure, and survival, where fear comes not from violence, but from silence, obedience, and the gradual loss of self.
Reader Praise
“Deeply unsettling, beautifully written, and emotionally intelligent.”
“It reads like literary horror wearing a psychological thriller’s skin.”
“The atmosphere is suffocating. The house feels disturbingly alive.”
“I didn’t feel entertained. I felt affected.”
Grief built the monster. Love keeps it alive.
He said it was an accident. A storm, a slip, a single mistake that stole his daughter’s life.
But grief curdled into something else. Something darker.
Now, in the shadows of his isolated home, women are taken. Each one is measured, tested, remade. He tells himself it’s love. He tells himself it’s redemption.
He couldn’t save her. So he rewrote her.
Eliza wakes in his world of rules and rituals, where every choice is a test she doesn’t understand and failure is not forgiven. The walls whisper with the ghosts of the women before her and the terrible secret of what he’s trying to rebuild.
Some fathers can’t let go.
Some daughters don’t get to leave.
This book is a chilling psychological thriller about grief, obsession, and the terrifying lengths a parent will go to recreate what death has taken.
480 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 20, 2025
17 people want to read
About the author
Chelsea O'Hara
6 books46 followersChelsea O’Hara writes psychological thrillers grounded in real life, inspired by experiments, human behaviour, and the darkness we try not to see. She’s fascinated by the fragility of memory, the strangeness of isolation, and the way ordinary people fracture under extraordinary pressure.
Her stories mix unsettling psychology with sharp, human edges, a little horror, a little heartbreak, and just enough dark humour to keep the lights on. She likes to say she writes about the things people prefer to ignore, the whispers in the walls, the truths we bury, and the shadows we pretend not to see.
Why did she start writing? She couldn’t tell you. Maybe to make sense of the chaos, maybe to lean into it. She’s always been fascinated by the human mind — why one person breaks and another doesn’t, why some turn cruel while others cling to kindness. Either way, the result is the same: thrillers that crawl under your skin and stay there.”
Chelsea writes best at night, when the house is still, her coffee is strong, and she pretends the scratching in the walls is “just the pipes.”
Her stories mix unsettling psychology with sharp, human edges, a little horror, a little heartbreak, and just enough dark humour to keep the lights on. She likes to say she writes about the things people prefer to ignore, the whispers in the walls, the truths we bury, and the shadows we pretend not to see.
Why did she start writing? She couldn’t tell you. Maybe to make sense of the chaos, maybe to lean into it. She’s always been fascinated by the human mind — why one person breaks and another doesn’t, why some turn cruel while others cling to kindness. Either way, the result is the same: thrillers that crawl under your skin and stay there.”
Chelsea writes best at night, when the house is still, her coffee is strong, and she pretends the scratching in the walls is “just the pipes.”
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 19, 2025
Elias is a psychological horror novel about control, identity erasure, and survival.
The story opens inside a nightmare: young women are imprisoned in cages beneath a house that feels alive, observant, and complicit. They are stripped of names, reduced to numbers, and forced into obedience rituals by a man who believes he is creating, not destroying.
The narrative moves between:
• The basement (the Still House) — claustrophobic, ritualistic, dehumanizing
• The outside world — where normal life continues, fractured and increasingly unsafe
• Memory and reconstruction — where identity is rewritten, blurred, or forcibly reshaped
At its core, this is not a “serial killer thriller.”
It’s a slow psychological dissection of how people are broken, reshaped, and made to survive inside someone else’s version of love and salvation.
This book is:
• Deeply unsettling
• Beautifully written
• Emotionally intelligent
• Not for casual readers
It reads like literary horror wearing a psychological thriller’s skin.
If this book fails for a reader, it will not be because it’s bad — it will be because it’s too intense.
Atmosphere is MASTER-LEVEL
The house is one of the strongest “settings-as-entity” I’ve read in a long time.
• The silence
• The smells (strawberry, bleach, rot)
• The way the house “listens”
This is Shirley Jackson–level atmospheric control.
The Still House feels aware, not haunted in a cheap way, but complicit.
🧠 THEMATIC DEPTH (WHY THIS BOOK STICKS)
This book isn’t about kidnapping.
It’s about:
• Being rewritten
• Losing language
• Being loved wrong
• Surviving inside someone else’s narrative
The line “He couldn’t save her. So he rewrote her.” is not marketing fluff — it’s the thesis.
That’s powerful.
Perfect for readers who love:
• Psychological horror
• Literary suspense
• Slow-burn dread
• Uncomfortable intimacy
• Feminist horror
NOT for readers who want:
• Fast action
• Clean heroes/villains
• Easy closure
😶 Immediate Gut Reaction
This book made me feel uncomfortable in my own body.
Not scared in a jump-scare way.
Not grossed out.
Just… constantly tense. Like I needed to keep checking the room around me.
I had to put it down a few times — not because it was boring, but because it was too intense to read for long stretches.
That’s not a complaint. Just a warning.
⸻
🧠 What Stuck With Me
• The silence is louder than most horror monsters.
• The house feels aware — like it’s choosing sides.
• The strawberry smell made my stomach turn every time it appeared.
• Liv broke my heart quietly and repeatedly.
This book doesn’t let you relax. Even during “calm” moments, something feels off, like you’re waiting for the floor to give way.
⸻
📖 Writing Style (Honest)
The prose is beautiful but heavy.
Sometimes I had to reread paragraphs because they were dense emotionally, not confusing — just a lot to sit with. It feels intentional, but I can see some readers saying:
“This is really well written, but I need breaks.”
That said, I’d rather read this than something dumbed down or rushed.
⸻
😬 Emotional Impact
This book is emotionally cruel in a controlled way.
• The fear feels realistic.
• The helplessness doesn’t feel exaggerated.
• The way the girls adapt is terrifying because it makes sense.
I felt angry. Sad. Protective. And deeply unsettled.
I did not feel entertained.
I felt affected.
⸻
🚨 Content Warning Reality Check
Yes, the content warnings are necessary.
No, they don’t fully prepare you.
Nothing is graphic for shock value, but the psychological weight is brutal. This book lives in the aftermath, not the act.
If you’ve ever read something and thought “this understands fear too well” — that’s this.
⸻
🧩 Things I Struggled With (Being Honest)
• The middle drags slightly — not plot-wise, but emotionally.
• I sometimes wanted just a tiny bit more grounding or clarity.
• This is not binge-read friendly unless you’re emotionally armored.
Still — none of that made me want to stop reading.
⸻
🩸 The Villain
Elias is terrifying because he’s quiet, not because he’s violent.
The worst moments weren’t what he did — it was:
• How calmly he did it
• How convinced he was that he was right
• How small everyone else became around him
That kind of villain sticks.
⸻
🖤 Would I Recommend It?
Yes — but selectively.
I would NOT recommend this to:
• Casual thriller readers
• Anyone looking for comfort or escape
• Readers sensitive to psychological abuse themes
I WOULD recommend it to:
• Horror readers
• Literary suspense fans
• Readers who like books that haunt them after
So here’s my full review ↙️
Elias is a slow-burn psychological horror that sinks under your skin and refuses to leave. This isn’t a fast thriller or an easy read — it’s heavy, intimate, and deeply unsettling in the quietest ways. The fear comes from silence, control, and the slow erasure of identity rather than graphic violence, and it’s written with striking, restrained prose. The atmosphere is suffocating, the house feels disturbingly alive, and the relationships between the girls are heartbreaking in their realism. At times the emotional weight can feel exhausting, and some readers may wish for slightly tighter pacing, but the impact is undeniable. This book doesn’t aim to entertain so much as it aims to affect — and it succeeds. Recommended for readers who enjoy dark psychological horror that lingers long after the final page.
The story opens inside a nightmare: young women are imprisoned in cages beneath a house that feels alive, observant, and complicit. They are stripped of names, reduced to numbers, and forced into obedience rituals by a man who believes he is creating, not destroying.
The narrative moves between:
• The basement (the Still House) — claustrophobic, ritualistic, dehumanizing
• The outside world — where normal life continues, fractured and increasingly unsafe
• Memory and reconstruction — where identity is rewritten, blurred, or forcibly reshaped
At its core, this is not a “serial killer thriller.”
It’s a slow psychological dissection of how people are broken, reshaped, and made to survive inside someone else’s version of love and salvation.
This book is:
• Deeply unsettling
• Beautifully written
• Emotionally intelligent
• Not for casual readers
It reads like literary horror wearing a psychological thriller’s skin.
If this book fails for a reader, it will not be because it’s bad — it will be because it’s too intense.
Atmosphere is MASTER-LEVEL
The house is one of the strongest “settings-as-entity” I’ve read in a long time.
• The silence
• The smells (strawberry, bleach, rot)
• The way the house “listens”
This is Shirley Jackson–level atmospheric control.
The Still House feels aware, not haunted in a cheap way, but complicit.
🧠 THEMATIC DEPTH (WHY THIS BOOK STICKS)
This book isn’t about kidnapping.
It’s about:
• Being rewritten
• Losing language
• Being loved wrong
• Surviving inside someone else’s narrative
The line “He couldn’t save her. So he rewrote her.” is not marketing fluff — it’s the thesis.
That’s powerful.
Perfect for readers who love:
• Psychological horror
• Literary suspense
• Slow-burn dread
• Uncomfortable intimacy
• Feminist horror
NOT for readers who want:
• Fast action
• Clean heroes/villains
• Easy closure
😶 Immediate Gut Reaction
This book made me feel uncomfortable in my own body.
Not scared in a jump-scare way.
Not grossed out.
Just… constantly tense. Like I needed to keep checking the room around me.
I had to put it down a few times — not because it was boring, but because it was too intense to read for long stretches.
That’s not a complaint. Just a warning.
⸻
🧠 What Stuck With Me
• The silence is louder than most horror monsters.
• The house feels aware — like it’s choosing sides.
• The strawberry smell made my stomach turn every time it appeared.
• Liv broke my heart quietly and repeatedly.
This book doesn’t let you relax. Even during “calm” moments, something feels off, like you’re waiting for the floor to give way.
⸻
📖 Writing Style (Honest)
The prose is beautiful but heavy.
Sometimes I had to reread paragraphs because they were dense emotionally, not confusing — just a lot to sit with. It feels intentional, but I can see some readers saying:
“This is really well written, but I need breaks.”
That said, I’d rather read this than something dumbed down or rushed.
⸻
😬 Emotional Impact
This book is emotionally cruel in a controlled way.
• The fear feels realistic.
• The helplessness doesn’t feel exaggerated.
• The way the girls adapt is terrifying because it makes sense.
I felt angry. Sad. Protective. And deeply unsettled.
I did not feel entertained.
I felt affected.
⸻
🚨 Content Warning Reality Check
Yes, the content warnings are necessary.
No, they don’t fully prepare you.
Nothing is graphic for shock value, but the psychological weight is brutal. This book lives in the aftermath, not the act.
If you’ve ever read something and thought “this understands fear too well” — that’s this.
⸻
🧩 Things I Struggled With (Being Honest)
• The middle drags slightly — not plot-wise, but emotionally.
• I sometimes wanted just a tiny bit more grounding or clarity.
• This is not binge-read friendly unless you’re emotionally armored.
Still — none of that made me want to stop reading.
⸻
🩸 The Villain
Elias is terrifying because he’s quiet, not because he’s violent.
The worst moments weren’t what he did — it was:
• How calmly he did it
• How convinced he was that he was right
• How small everyone else became around him
That kind of villain sticks.
⸻
🖤 Would I Recommend It?
Yes — but selectively.
I would NOT recommend this to:
• Casual thriller readers
• Anyone looking for comfort or escape
• Readers sensitive to psychological abuse themes
I WOULD recommend it to:
• Horror readers
• Literary suspense fans
• Readers who like books that haunt them after
So here’s my full review ↙️
Elias is a slow-burn psychological horror that sinks under your skin and refuses to leave. This isn’t a fast thriller or an easy read — it’s heavy, intimate, and deeply unsettling in the quietest ways. The fear comes from silence, control, and the slow erasure of identity rather than graphic violence, and it’s written with striking, restrained prose. The atmosphere is suffocating, the house feels disturbingly alive, and the relationships between the girls are heartbreaking in their realism. At times the emotional weight can feel exhausting, and some readers may wish for slightly tighter pacing, but the impact is undeniable. This book doesn’t aim to entertain so much as it aims to affect — and it succeeds. Recommended for readers who enjoy dark psychological horror that lingers long after the final page.
December 18, 2025
This book unsettled me in all the best ways. Now that it's over I still find myself thinking about it.
I couldn't put it down. The way this author writes makes it feel so real. It's totally immersive and I found myself listening to the silence, feeling the fear and wondering what's going to happen next.
Honestly so, so good. I would recommend anyone read this asap, especially if you are looking for something thrilling. As always check the trigger warnings, there are a few!!!!!
I couldn't put it down. The way this author writes makes it feel so real. It's totally immersive and I found myself listening to the silence, feeling the fear and wondering what's going to happen next.
Honestly so, so good. I would recommend anyone read this asap, especially if you are looking for something thrilling. As always check the trigger warnings, there are a few!!!!!
Read
October 15, 2025Looks great, I can't wait to publish a review on this!
Review of advance copy received from Author
This book was amazing. Please read it, as it is wonderful. It has twists and turns and takes you down a road of fear for the characters.The main character Ada is a fighter and a woman that is worth getting to know.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews